And So We Meet Again
by ageekinsideofme
Summary: International Quidditch superstar James Potter is suddenly reunited with the girl his fourteen-year-old self swore he'd marry, Lily Evans. If only he knew all her secrets. / Jily AU
1. The Green-Eyed Girl

**Thursday**

James was having the worst day of his life.

Okay, probably not actually, he did tend to be a little bit dramatic at times. But today more than ever, he hated the life he lived. One might think that being an international Quidditch sensation would mean living like a king - and one would be right, to an extent - but today… today he was miserable.

You see, he was supposed to be at home by now. At home after a long day at work; in his bathtub, with a warm Butterbeer and the Muggle telly on to entertain him. Not that he really even knew how to work the damn thing, but after pressing several buttons at random, something would always end up coming on screen.

But he wasn't home, in his bathtub, with a warm butterbeer and the Muggle telly. He was sweaty, gross, in pain, and sitting on a very uncomfortable foldable chair that was provided for him. In front of him laid a massive pile of posters, an image of himself flying around on his broom and flashing a smile at the camera. He definitely did not feel as happy now as he looked to be in that picture.

"Tell me," James grumbled, shooting a dirty look to his manager, Badrick. " _Why_ am I here? I'm injured. Or do you not recall a certain incident not even eight hours ago?"

A little less than eight hours before, James had been laying in a hospital bed, all bones on his left hand completely crushed by a stray Bludger. The Healers had assured him it would heal properly, and that he would be okay in 24 hours. However, they also informed him that the process of healing would be painful, although it should not be unbearable so long as he didn't mess with his injury. This meant, no more flying for the day, and possibly the day after. Until his hand healed completely, he was not allowed back on the field.

Badrick had the audacity to roll his eyes. "Stop whining. You're not even left-handed. This should not affect your ability to sign these posters and smile at your fans any less than it would've otherwise."

"I know, but I would've done it about three hours ago. You know, after practice, with some time to shower and change and without a crushed hand that hurts like a bitch." He muttered bitterly. Because of his incident, his scheduled meet-and-greet had been postponed to later in the day. He had gotten out of the hospital tent not even a half hour beforehand, therefore being obligated to continue through with his schedule in the days' sweaty uniform.

And then there was the Montrose Magpies; James' biggest dream yet biggest headache. The Magpies had long been the most successful team in the British and Irish Quidditch League, having won the League Cup a total of thirty-two times. To even make the reserves would be a great feat. James was really just starting out, after all. He had graduated Hogwarts only just shy of two years prior. He'd spent six out of his seven years at Hogwarts playing Quidditch.

Although the tips of his ears would get red when someone mentioned it, he was _good._ Like, _really_ good. That was part of the reason his fame grew exponentially within the past year. Well, that and his good looks that kept even the most Quidditch-inept ladies paying close attention to the game.

James wasn't stupid, he knew there were scouts looking at him under the microscope, watching his every move and deciding if he was worthy of their team. The thought alone sent him into a fit of excited butterflies, but that also meant that missing practice, or worse, tomorrow's game, could be devastating to his career. Sure, the Appleby Arrows were alright… for now. He could do better, he knew he could, and he'd be damned if some injury was going to stop that.

Badrick, knowing James almost as well as anybody that wasn't one of his best friends could know James, saw right through him. "You're worried you won't be signed into a good team, aren't you?" He asked, not even waiting for James to answer before he went on, "You'll be fine, James. I've told you many times before, you _will_ get into a good team. You're good and you're popular. You _know_ that." He stared into James' hazel eyes, which were now firmly glued to the table. He sighed again and continued, "I'll be honest, it may not be the Magpies. But that hardly has anything to do with your injury or your performance. They're the best team in the league, and you're new. Maybe you could get to Tutshill… or even Puddlemere reserves if you're lucky and play with absolute perfection. The Magpies are too far of a reach; you also know _that._ I'd give it at least five more years till it becomes a possibility. I'm not saying you can't do it, but don't be disappointed if you don't get an owl from them any time soon. All their players have been in professional Quidditch for years, kid. You practically just graduated."

Of course, James knew this. He knew the Magpies were a reach, he knew he would be insanely lucky to _ever_ get into the team, much less now _._ He took a deep breath and said, "Just bring the fans in already. The sooner I get over this, the better."

Badrick knew the Magpie conversation was over, so he nodded and signaled the guard to let the fans in. "Don't look so miserable, kid. Everyone's going to think you hate your fans. Not good publicity, I fear."

"I don't hate my fans. I've just had a rotten day."

"Well, hide it."

James rolled his eyes but nodded in agreement. Truthfully, he loved meeting fans. Unless they attempted to throw themselves at him and force a kiss, that was never very fun. Most of them were nice though, and kept their hands to themselves. Although the look in their eyes often said they wouldn't mind throwing themselves at him as well but were just merely too respectful to do so. But today he was just not in the mood.

Plus, he felt gross. It was never fun to meet a bunch of cute girls when you smell rotten.

Alas, he knew he had to, anyway. So he forced a smile on his face as a line of people walked towards him.

* * *

James signed posters, hugged fans and evaded a few kisses here and there for what seemed like forever. As the last group of people in line were leaving, he checked his watch. 7:02 PM. He let out a sigh of relief, at least it wasn't too late. He'd been sitting there for about two hours at that point. He was ready for his arse to leave that crappy white chair and be sitting atop his much more comfortable bed.

Just was he was standing up, he caught sight of a young woman walking towards the table. She didn't say anything, merely just stood right in front of the table, staring at him with a small smile tugging and the corner of her lips. After about thirty seconds of her just lingering there without a word, James spoke up, "Uh, hi. Can I help you?"

"Well, it's a meet-and-greet, isn't it? I'm here to meet you." The girl answered simply, as if she hadn't just been standing there without a word. _Weird, but at least she's pretty,_ he thought. And she was. Prettiest girl he'd seen in a long time, he decided.

She shook her head as she continued, interrupting James' thoughts, "No, I guess 'meeting' is not the right word. More like... reuniting, er, I guess." She blushed, shaking her head again. "I'm not making any sense, am I. Do you remember me?"

James stared. He looked at the woman right in front of him up and down, analyzing her closely. Honestly, she was drop dead gorgeous in a girl-next-door kind of way. If he wasn't so confused by what she was saying, he totally would've hit on her.

She was average height, although she was short next to him. Most girls were, as he was a tall man. She had light skin and was pretty averagely skinny. She had a very delicate face, making her look a bit younger than him. He guessed around 18, though he was quite rubbish at guessing ages. She had dark, black hair. Her eyes, though, were definitely what caught James' attention the most. They were a stunning emerald green color. Big, with long eyelashes adorning them. He'd seen those eyes before; he knew he had...

"Evans." He responded after a minute of awkward silence. "...Right? Wait, no. You can't be Lily Evans, she had red hair. Plus, I'm quite certain she would have sooner embraced a Killing Curse coming to one of my meet-and-greets. Sorry, I'm being stupid. You look a lot like her though." He shook his head. "I'm sorry," he repeated "I don't remember you."

The green-eyed girl just laughed and shook her head. "You do remember me." She answered, taking her wand out. James was confused, and for a second he thought that maybe she was one of the many girls he'd gone on a date with that he later ignored owls from. Maybe she was mad he didn't remember her and was pulling out her want do hex him. Though why he would ignore her didn't make sense, she was so beautiful.

Thankfully, he didn't get hexed. The girl brought her wand up to her head, tapping her hair lightly as she muttered a spell.

Her hair slowly faded from black into a warm, auburn shade. Suddenly, he realized his first guess was right.

"Evans." He said slowly, his eyes narrowing. "I'm sorry if I'm being rude, but what are you doing here? What do you want?"

She grinned. "I told you. I want to reunite. I know we didn't really have the best relationship in school-"

"Not the best relationship is putting it lightly." He muttered, shooting her a suspicious look. "You hate me, Evans."

She rolled her eyes, tucking a piece of her fiery hair behind her ear. "Potter, I hated you when I was fourteen."

"Right. I still don't understand why you're here, though. I haven't seen you left Hogwarts."

Lily had dropped out of Hogwarts after her parents, both Muggles, had passed away in a car accident. James was practically in love with her at only fourteen years old, or as in love as a fourteen-year-old can possibly be, so he knew about this. He remembers hearing that she's continue her education at home with her Muggle sister, and after she left he never heard from her again. Until now.

"I told you. Reunite." She said it so simply and casually, shrugging her shoulders.

"Why? I understand that you don't hate me like you used to when you were fourteen, but still. We were never friends, so why come looking for me?"

"Well, I'm trying this thing where I'm attempting not to have any bad relationships in my life. You know, fixing any bad blood I've had with anyone. That usually does not extend to old Hogwarts feuds; too long ago and people are all over the world by now. But then I saw an ad for this meet-and-greet and I thought 'why not?', you're probably, no, _definitely_ the person I despised most in that school. So I think it's fine to try to mend everything, even if was so long ago, don't you think?"

James remained silent, looking at her with a mix of confusion, surprise, and suspicion. Five years ago, he would be jumping with excitement and the mere thought of having a proper conversation with Lily Evans where she wasn't glaring at him. Now, it just seemed strange.

"So let me get this straight." He said slowly, frowning at her, who simply shot him a smile back. "You hated me. Now you want good vibes in your life or whatever, so you talk to me. Six years after the last time we even saw each other."

Lily just nodded. She didn't say anything, as if that was enough of an explanation.

"I'm sorry, but that just seems pretty strange to me."

"It is." She answered with a shrug. "But I've changed and I'm assuming you have, too. I've grown and I've realized that while you were a complete immature arsehole, I wasn't fair to you a lot of the time. I want to make it right, even if it has been years."

"Right… Make it right." James muttered, cocking his head to the side. "I'm sorry, may I ask how exactly you're going to 'make it right'?"

"I was hoping you would ask that. The Leaky Cauldron is not too far from here. Wanna grab a Butterbeer and chat?" She paused. "Well, not now. In an hour or so, I'll give you a chance to shower. You stink."

"You're asking me to go grab a Butterbeer with you?" He said, smirking as he leaned back on his crappy chair. "Wow, if fourteen-year-old me knew this would happen someday, he'd be thrilled."

She rolled her eyes. "Well, it's hardly a _date_. Just two old… well I can't say friends, can I? Two people that have known each other for a really long time talking again after a few years." She smiled, laughing lightly. "Fourteen-year-old me would've laughed at the face of whoever told me that I would ever willingly spend any time at all with James Potter. But anyway, what do you say?"

"Look, I'm not going to pretend this isn't… weird. Or that I think it's an amazing idea. But I guess I've got nothing to lose and neither do you." He glanced down at his watch; 7:14, then looked up at her again. "Meet me at The Leaky Cauldron at let's say… 8:30?"

"That's perfect." Lily nodded. "Thank you for giving me the time of day. I reckon you're quite a busy person."

James shrugged. "Yeah, I guess I am. But it's fine, I don't go out very often anyway."

"Good. I wouldn't want to be getting in the way of your schedule."

"You're not." He assured. "I better get going. I'll see you later." He smiled slightly at her, trying to be polite. He was still confused, but he figured this really couldn't hurt.

"Alright. I'll be there at 8:30." Lily said with a smile, and apparated before James could say anything else.

* * *

"Got yourself a girlfriend, kid?" Badrick asked teasingly almost as soon as Lily had left. James turned to look at him and realized that the whole room had emptied out, except for Badrick who had remained in the corner on the room, sitting where he had been for the whole meet-and-greet.

"Spying on me?" James asked with a chuckle, shaking his head. "Hardly a girlfriend. She wants us to meet at The Leaky Cauldron later. She's a schoolmate from Hogwarts, although wasn't really a mate of mine. I had a crush on her from when I was eleven to when I was fourteen. Then I dated Phoebe and I kind of forgot about Lily." He muttered. He hated talking about Phoebe. Even though the two were on good terms, his ex-girlfriend of five years was not something he liked thinking about. "Haven't really thought of her in years. She was never too keen on me… actually, she kind of hated me."

"Oh? Why's that?"

"Let's just say I was a bit of a troublemaker," He explained with a grin, "And Lily Evans was the sort of girl that would never get any less than a perfect score in an exam. Or be caught outside past curfew, or drink at post-Quidditch-game parties."

"Why am I not surprised to hear about the troublemaker bit?" Badrick said with a chuckle. "Alright, well. Maybe she's seeing how famous you've gotten recently and regrets rejecting you." He said jokingly, although a tone of seriousness lingered in his voice. "Be careful, alright? Don't divulge anything private, with fame comes having to be really careful about who you trust."

"Of course." James agreed, "You know I am good at keeping my personal information out of the public. And I can promise you this isn't her regretting any previous rejections. Although I don't really know what she's doing, either. Anyway," He pulled his wand out, ready to apparate. "I'm gonna head home. I've got about an hour to shower, get ready and meet her at The Leaky Cauldron."

"Have fun, kid. Be safe."

James rolled his eyes but smiled and mumbled a quick 'see you tomorrow' before apparating home.

Maybe this might not be the worst day of his life anymore.


	2. It's Hardly A Date

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** Even though only mentioned briefly, thank you to ghostofbambi and cgner because I've read so many of their fanfictions that I couldn't possibly give James' cat any name other than Algernon. I actually thought that was a cannon name until I googled it. Regardless! Hope you enjoy, and I'm sorry in advance... ;)

* * *

Twenty-three minutes.

That's exactly how long James had been waiting at a table by himself. He'd arrived at 8:27 and decided to wait outside for a couple of minutes. He walked in at exactly 8:30 and got a table for two by the window. Five minutes went by, and nothing. Ten went by, and nothing.

8:53. He started rising from the table, throwing his coat on and sighing. He should've known this would happen. Why would Lily Evans ever want to have a drink with him, anyway?

But just as the thought crossed his mind, a particular redhead burst in through the door. Her emerald eyes scanned the room and she smiled when she spotted him, walking over to him.

"Hey." Lily said breathlessly as she sat down on the chair across him. "I'm sorry I'm late. Cat ran out as I was trying to leave. Had to chase him through the whole flat building. But I'm here now… how are you?"

James looked at her, unsure whether to believe the whole cat thing, but he slowly sat back down anyway. "Uh, s'aight. I'm good. Was about to leave, thought you wouldn't show up." He admitted.

"Sorry about that." She shook her head, her cheeks flushing. "Not a good first impression. Although I guess it isn't really a _first_ impression, but you know what I mean. I won't be late again, promise. Sherlock's just a pain sometimes."

"Sherlock?"

"Yeah. My cat."

"You named your cat Sherlock?"

"Yes. You know, like Sherlock Holmes. I used to absolutely love the books when I was a child, even dressed as him for Halloween once- you don't know who Sherlock Holmes is, do you?" She said after seeing his confused expression.

"No clue." He admitted, shrugging his shoulders. "Famous Muggle?"

"Uh, not exactly. He's a famous Muggle _character_ , in a famous Muggle book. You've really never heard of Sherlock Holmes?"

James shook his head. "No."

"Alright, that's fine. I'll show you Sherlock Holmes someday. I reckon you'd like it."

"You want to go out again after today?"

"Well, if you to, of course." She said hastily, her face flushing. "I'm content with just being on good terms with you even if we never speak again."

He smirked. "Alright, whatever you say. Though after the second time, you're obligated to end up at my flat, it's only fair." He teased. Though those were not his intentions, he would be lying if he said he wouldn't mind that, there was no denying that she was drop dead gorgeous.

"Haven't changed at all, have you?" She muttered flatly.

"I have, quite a lot actually. But if you're expecting me not to tease you, I'm afraid that we can't speak again after today."

"I guess I can deal with that. Alright, tell me about your life. I haven't spoken to you in ages."

"That's because you hated me." He pointed out. "What do you want to know? You're not a reporter, are you?" He teased.

She rolled her eyes, shaking her head. "No, I'm not. I am a writer, though."

"Really? What kind of writing?"

"I asked first, tell me about your life, then we can move onto mine. What did you do after Hogwarts?"

James rolled his eyes, but spoke anyway. "Fine. I actually didn't want to play Quidditch professionally after Hogwarts. I wanted to be an Auror. So, I went to Auror Academy. But I got offered a job as a reserve for the Appleby Arrows. I thought I'd just do that on the side, as I wasn't obligated to attend every single practice. Soon enough though, the Captain said he wanted me on the main team. I was forced to pick between Auror Academy and Quidditch. It was really difficult, choosing between something I'd been dreaming for my whole life and my passion. Eventually I realized Quidditch would make me happier in the long run. So I dropped out of Auror Academy and now here I am. I've been playing for the Arrows since. What about you?" He was careful to tell her enough of what he'd been doing without revealing anything too personal.

"Told you, I'm a writer. That's pretty much all I've been doing. And other odd jobs to make ends meet, writing is not an easy career choice. I guess I relate though, I thought I wanted to be a Healer for a while, but I quickly discovered it was not for me. I live in a small flat that's literally across the street from here. It's just Sherlock and I. Why do the Arrows train here, anyway? Aren't they supposed to be in you know, Appleby?"

James laughed, shaking his head. "In Appleby? Appleby has like, three people in it. It's too small for a nice, professional Quidditch pitch. There is an old one there so we do occasionally go and train there as it is where our team is from and well, we have to use it if we keep claiming to be from there. But we mostly stay in London. There's a bigger fan base here and a lot more media. It's just easier to do most things in a big city."

She nodded in understanding. "I get it. Plus, more girls in the big cities." She teased.

He chuckled, nodding. "That, too. I'm not gonna lie, when you first asked me if I remembered you, I thought I'd gone on a date with you and forgotten who you were and then you came to hex me or something."

Lily's eyes widened as she laughed. "Merlin, that's why you looked like that! How many dates have you gone on that _that_ was your first thought?"

"Er, I don't wanna talk about it." He said sheepishly, chuckling lightly. "In my defense, I was heartbroken and I needed a distraction. Or twenty."

"Was that because of a certain blue-eyed ex-girlfriend?"

His heart skipped a beat. "How do you know about Phe and I?" He asked quickly.

She shot him a 'really?' look. "James, Phoebe Martin was infatuated with you since we were eleven. I'm still friends with Mary MacDonald, so she kept me up to date about what was going on at school. No surprise that you two ended up together. And your relationship was well-known by gossip magazines when you started gaining fame."

"I guess our relationship _was_ quite public." He muttered. "Too public. Became an issue when I joined the Arrows. That kind of led to…. I don't know why I'm telling you this." He blushed, shaking his head. "Sorry, I got carried away."

She smiled warmly. "Don't worry about it. I like it, actually. It's nice knowing there's more to you than I thought when we were at school. You're clearly in love with her, it's cute."

His face went even more red as he shook his head. "I'm not. I'm not gonna lie, she's a special girl. But it just wasn't meant to be." He shrugged. "Besides, I'm hardly in a place where I can date someone. Too busy."

"How so?" She asked, tilting her head slightly. "I mean, you're here with me right now. If you had a girlfriend, you'd be with her. You have time to be here."

"Yeah, but only being able to go out on the weekends is not really apt for a relationship." He muttered. "I wouldn't be able to do this every day. Most days, I'm home a tad earlier than today, maybe at around six or seven. I train from seven in the morning to three in the afternoon every single weekday during Quidditch season. Of course, we have breaks and such. We've got an hour and a half lunch break at eleven. After practice, I shower and then go to the Arrows' offices at 4:30. I speak with my manager and he tells me anything new, and then I spend at least two hours doing various things- signing posters, going to interviews, photoshoots too unfortunately-"

"Not a big fan of photoshoots?" Lily interrupted, amusement in her voice.

"I only do photoshoots because I get fired if I don't." He said bluntly. "They want me to take my shirt off all the damn time. Do you know how embarrassing it is to have to look like a complete arsehole holding a broom while you're half naked and winking at the camera? Do you know how embarrassing it is when you see that on the cover of _Witch Weekly_? Or even worse, when your own _mother frames it and puts it on the living room wall!_ "

Lily burst into laughter. "If it makes you feel any better," She said in between laughs, "I know exactly what picture you're talking about because all of my female - and a male or two - coworkers were swooning over it last month. I'm not gonna lie and say I didn't peak. Professional Quidditch has done you well, Potter."

James blushed, embarrassed by the compliment, but he played it off by smirking. _She thought he looked good._ "What happened to 'it's hardly a date', hm?"

She rolled her eyes. "Call this as you may, don't pretend you don't like being complimented."

"Okay, it's a date, then. Even if it isn't, we'll pretend for the sake of my fourteen-year-old self's ego."

"So what were you saying about not having time to date? You were in the shirtless photoshoot part."

He chuckled. "Yes, I don't have time to date. So, after all of that, I can finally head home. Like I said, at around six or seven. Sometimes I might finish early if I'm lucky, but for the most part I don't. So I really only have time on the weekends. I've yet to meet a girl that wants to date someone who can only see her on the weekends."

"Wow, I'm not surprised Phoebe broke up with you." Lily muttered after a second of silence.

"What do you mean?" He asked, clearly offended. "I just told you why I couldn't date! Plus, who says _she_ broke up with _me_?"

"Because of the way you talk about her, you're still hurt." She shrugged. "That's why I don't think you broke up with her. But that's beside the point," She waved a hand in dismissal as James was about to start protesting. "No, listen to me. You _do_ have time to date. You just don't want to put in enough _effort_."

"Effort? I put in effort!" He huffed indignantly. "Who says I don't?"

" _You_ did." She said simply, turning away from him for a second as the waitress approached them for their order. When they were done ordering their two warm spiked Butterbeers and some chips to share, she turned back towards him. "You said it yourself. You have an hour and a half for lunch. That's a lot longer than you even need. So instead of sitting there with your mates, you go visit your girlfriend at work, maybe try to see if she could go on break at the same time. Then when you get home, you go out with her. Or you make her dinner. Or you buy dinner and eat it with her. Or you watch a movie. You do something-"

"Oh come on!" James protested. "I'm exhausted after work. I am flying on the field for six hours every day. And then I do more work things after."

"You're twenty years old, Potter. You can manage." She said dryly. "Plus it doesn't have to be _every day_. Just enough so she feels like you're trying."

He fell silent, only speaking to mutter a quick 'thank you' to the waitress as she brought their Butterbeers and chips. He ran a hand through his messy black hair and sighed as he nodded. "Yeah… I guess you're right. Well, good thing I'm single then. I can go home and sleep, the only living things who need me to pay any attention to them are my cat and my owl."

"Ooh, you've got a cat? What's his name?"

"Algernon. He's my best friend, don't tell Sirius."

"Sirius Black, huh? You're still friends with him? I always knew the two of you were annoyingly inseparable."

He grinned, nodding. "Yeah, I'm still best friends with Sirius, and with Remus and Peter. Sirius is my adoptive brother now actually, he moved in with my family during fifth year."

Her eyebrow quipped up. "Because of his… questionable family, I'm assuming?"

He nodded again. "Yeah, but he's much happier now."

She bit her lip and smiled, as if trying not to laugh. "Do you remember when you lot used to call yourselves… what was it? The Musketeers?"

He scoffed, looking slightly offended. "Excuse me! We _are_ the _Marauders_."

"You… you still call yourselves that?"

"Yes. Not publicly of course but still—"

Lily stifled a laugh and he threw her a slightly offended look in return.

"I'm going to pretend you didn't just laugh at my—"

"I didn't laugh!"

"—friends and I, because that is just _terribly_ rude." He said with a hint of a smile on his face. "Enough about me. Tell me what you have been up to."

Lily stayed silent for a second before letting out a long sigh. "Well," She started, twirling her finger absentmindedly on the rim of her mug, her eyes glued to it. "I left Hogwarts during my fourth year because both my parents died. Frankly, it started because I simply could not even get out of bed for months, so I needed to put my education on hold. And I never went back because I just… I didn't have money, to be completely honest. I needed a normal muggle job if I wanted to keep my parent's house in good condition, a place to live in when I wasn't at Hogwarts. Which in the end turned out to be all for nothing, because I ended up selling the house when I turned eighteen."

"Oh," He said softly, not really knowing what else to say, so he just added "I'm so sorry."

"S'alright. I did keep up with my education, though. Passed all my OWLS and NEWTS with flying colors. Went to Healer school for a bit and dropped out of that. I haven't really felt all that connected with the wizarding world after Hogwarts and it just felt off. However," For the first time in her long rant, she looked up at James and smiled slightly. "I have always enjoyed Quidditch. Kind of a far-away admiration of the Wizarding World that I don't necessarily have to be immersed in myself, I can just watch other people do it. I was very surprised when I heard you signed into the Arrows, they're a good team yeah, but I always reckoned you could do a lot better."

James sat there in a stunned silence for a second, just looking at her. "You…" He started when he finally spoke. "You knew I got signed? You kept up with my life?"

She rolled her eyes, laughing lightly. "If you want to put it that way. It was more like I kept up with Quidditch, and you just so happened to throw yourself at it."

He nodded, his heart skipping a beat. "Yeah, of course. I just never really knew what'd happened to you after you left Hogwarts. It's kind of shocking to hear all of this."

She shrugged, taking a sip off her drink. "I s'ppose it's a lot. I might've had a shit time for a bit, but hey," She looked up at him and grinned, giving him a light and playful kick under the table. "At least I don't call myself… what was it? Tongs?"

James groaned, "Prongs!" He whined as she burst into laughter.

Though he was mildly annoyed at her teasing, James didn't remember the last time he had felt this comfortable talking to someone.

* * *

Their conversation carried on for so long, switching between teasing, to small stories of the past few years, that when James finally bothered to notice anything other than Lily, he realized that The Leaky Cauldron was nearly empty. He glanced down at his watch and realized the place was about to close.

"We should go. They're going to kick us out soon if we don't."

"Let them!" She said, giggling as she stood up anyway, stumbling slightly. She wasn't smashed, but she'd definitely had one too many drinks.

James laughed and walked up to her, putting his arm around her shoulder to steady her. "Come on, I'll help you. You probably shouldn't have had that last half of my drink." He was tipsy too, but definitely a lot more stable than she was, though that might've been the fact that he was not the one wearing heels. Even with them on, he observed, she still was a bit shorter than him.

"No, I really shouldn't have." She giggled, putting an arm around his waist as the pair walked out the door. "Alright, my flat is right across the park, so bye. See you!" She said cheerfully, moving away from him.

James' eyebrows rose and he caught her arm as she tried to walk away. "Uh, you're not walking alone."

"What'd y'mean?" She said, pulling her arm away and crossing her arms over her chest. "I can walk alone! I do it all the time!"

"Okay, well, not today. You're drunk and it's dark and I don't see why I shouldn't walk you. So I am, end of discussion."

Lily glared at him, walking over and pointing at accusing finger at his chest. "I," She said, jabbing his chest with her finger. "Am _not_ sleeping with you tonight, Potter."

James rolled his eyes and chuckled. "Maybe tomorrow?" He asked teasingly, grabbing her hand that was still pointing at his chest and gently putting it down. "I didn't try to imply that. I'm walking you and then going home, promise. Now, stop poking my chest or you'll hurt your hand on my rock-hard abs."

"Damn chivalry." She muttered, completely disregarding his last joke. "Fine, you may walk me home." She grinned, placing an arm around his waist as she took the lead and walked towards the park. "It's right across the park."

"Sounds good to me." He put his arm back around her shoulders as they walked and glanced down at her. "Random question, why did you have your hair black yesterday, anyway? That's why I thought you couldn't possibly be you. That, and the fact that you used to hate me."

Lily paused, frowning lightly and pouting her lips as she thought. "I just… I don't really like my red hair." She admitted, taking a strand of it and twirling it around her fingers with her free hand. "I used to get teased about it all the time. I was told it looked like my head was on fire. I don't know, I guess I was just over it. I only have it like this right now because I was going out with you, and you met me with my red hair."

"Well you can tell those wankers to fuck off." He said, shaking his head. "I like your hair. It suits you."

Her face flushed, a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips. "Thank you."

"It's pretty, like you. You're very pretty."

He looked at her and saw her go an even deeper shade of red shade of red. "Oh. Thank you." She said softly.

"Sorry I didn't mean to embarrass you or something—"

"No no, not at all." She stopped walking and looked at him, biting her lip lightly. "You just, you've changed a lot since Hogwarts." She said softly.

He shrugged, running his left hand, the one that wasn't around her shoulders, through his mop of black hair. "Are you surprised? I was fourteen the last time you saw me."

She sighed, and James was suddenly aware of how close she was. He could feel he breath against his neck, their height difference not as large with her wearing heels. He shivered. "I guess I sort of am." She admitted, looking up at him. He could feel her breath on his face now, their faces just a couple of inches away. He slipped his arm from around her shoulders down to be around her waist, his hand resting on the small of her back. "You're lovely. I really enjoyed spending time with you tonight."

He looked at her for a few seconds, then brought his left hand up to her face, brushing her hair from her face and leaving his palm to rest on her cheek. She instantly leaned against it. "Lily?"

"Hmmm?" She hummed.

 _I really want to kiss you._ James thought, but he stopped himself from asking if he could kiss her as soon as he opened his mouth and sighed. She had definitely been flirting with him the whole night, but she was tipsier than he was and he didn't know if that changed things. For all he knew, she only liked him when there was alcohol involved. He didn't want to take things the wrong way and accidentally make her uncomfortable. "We, um, we should keep walking." He muttered, dropping the hand that was on her cheek and looking away.

She stayed silent for a second and let out a deep sigh before nodding slowly. "If you want, I suppose."

Before James could answer, he felt her pull away from him from one second to another.

At first, he thought she'd fallen. He whipped around quickly, looking down at first. "Lily!" He yelled as he turned.

But as he turned towards where she had been a mere second ago, he was greeted by the barrel of a Muggle gun.

It took him a second to take everything in. If there's anything Auror Academy had taught him, it was that while you had to act fast, it was best to take a second to realize what was going on instead of acting on impulse. So he did. One guy, not much older than him, was holding Lily with her arms behind her back, a knife close to her neck. Another one was pointing a gun at James. They were both big, and while they were both shorter than James, he knew it wouldn't be easy to take them both down anyway. Specially because his wand was in his pocket and he had a gun pointed at him.

The guy pointing the gun at James was the first one to speak, a malicious smirk on his face. "Don't even think about playing any games. You make a sudden movement, and your pretty little girlfriend is dead. I want your wallet, now."

James looked at him for a second before nodding slowly. He took his wallet out, which was full of wizard money, and carefully placed it on the ground in front of him. His mind raced with possibilities on what to do next. He couldn't get his wand out, that would put Lily in danger. Even if he managed to take it out, they could easily hurt her before he was able to save them both. _Think. Think. Think._

"Let her go." He said firmly, surprised at how his voice didn't crack. He appeared calm, though he was definitely far from. "Take whatever you want, but let her go."

The guy holding Lily laughed, making her shut her eyes tightly. She looked like she was hyperventilating. "Now why would we do that? She's a pretty one. I think I want to keep her, at least for the night. What do you think, Rob?" He asked, dropping a wet kiss on Lily's cheek that made her whimper quietly. That made James inch forward to beat the shit out the guy, but a quick look from 'Rob' (doubtfully his real name) told him that it was not a good idea.

"Leave her the fuck alone." He hissed.

"No." Rob said simply. "Yeah, I reckon she'll provide us a little fun tonight." He didn't even wait for James to respond before he switched to point his gun at Lily. "Give her the zip ties." He ordered the other guy, who did as told and handed Lily a handful of zip ties, letting her go. "Don't even think of running. Tie your little protective boyfriend's hands, then his feet. He shouldn't bother us too much after that."

Lily took the zip ties with shaky hands, she could barely hold them. As she walked closer, James could see that she was shaking and that tears were rolling down her face. "I'm sorry." She whispered when they were close enough.

A light bulb went off in James' head. He put his hands together for her to tie. She struggled to her hold of a single zip tie because of how badly her hands were shaking. As soon as she touched him, he reached rapidly, grabbed her wrist tightly and turned.

He heard a loud _BANG_ before his whole world went dark.


End file.
